A/N; 5th Jan for questions! :)
The metal of the gun was cold. Colder than anything she'd ever felt before.
Time slowed down. Everyone else in the room seemed to disappear. The only ones in existence were her and the boy holding a gun to her head. Rena looked up at her older brother and whimpered.
After everything. Everything they had been through. He was going to shoot her in the head and she was going to die.
There was so many things Rena had never done. She'd never get to graduate college. She'd never get to reach adulthood and get her own place and pay bills and do all those adult things. She would never get a job outside of the cafe. She would never get married. Have children. She didn't even want children, and yet there was an ache in her chest at the realisation that she would never have them. She wouldn't see any of her friends again. She would never get to see Aunt Cass again. She would never get to say sorry to Hiro. To Tadashi. She'd never be able to come out. She would die hiding who she really was.
She wouldn't even get to say goodbye.
An hour ago, death seemed like a perfectly fine option. An option that Rena was willing to accept. But as she looked at Tadashi standing above her, at Honey Lemon and Gogo; Fred and Wasabi, at Hiro and Baymax, she realised then how much she valued her life and the people in it. After all, was it not selfish to not share the heavy burden of living?
Or maybe she was so bitterly angry and miserable because Tadashi would be the one to end her life. Despite everything, he was her best friend. She didn't care that other people might think it weird for brother and sister to be so close. Not a care in the world.
Tadashi knew everything about her. Rena knew everything about him. She couldn't remember a time without him in her life and, quite frankly, she didn't even want to. Throughout everything - their parents' death, Hiro in the hospital, everything with Callaghan, the fire, Rena being poisoned - he was there. He'd never left. Tadashi knew exactly when something was wrong. He knew when she was scared, or sad. And Rena knew everything about Tadashi. She knew he wanted to go to SFIT before he did. She knew exactly when he needed to be alone, or when he needed a shoulder to cry on. That's how things were. They were never apart. They was never any doubt about their relationship.
Until now. Because she'd failed to make sure that he was okay. Because she had ignored the not so subtle hints that something was going on. Because he was going to shoot her in the head. And there was nothing she could do about it.
But Rena knew Tadashi. She knew that whatever was going on, this wasn't him. Deep down, she knew that he was still in there. That he would never, ever, kill her. Ever. Because he was Tadashi and murder really wasn't his style.
So, what could she do? She knew one thing for certain - she had no intention on dying that night.
'Why are you doing this?'
Hiro's voice snapped her out of her daze. Good. If he kept talking, she could work on a plan.
'Because you took everything from me. Now, I'm going to take everything from you.'
'I don't... I'm sorry, okay! I'm sorry.' Hiro said desperately, his confident facade beginning to crumble.
Fournier laughed, 'sorry! I don't care if you're sorry! That means NOTHING to me now!'
Rena slowly lowered her hands. Fournier was too busy talking to Hiro to notice. She glanced over at her friends and offered them a small smile, hopefully she looked more confident than she felt.
Honey Lemon offered her a watery grin in return. 'You okay?' She mouthed.
Rena nodded gently, afraid that any sudden movement would set Tadashi off.
'The phone!' Gogo mouthed, 'we need to get the phone!'
Rena was confused for a second before it hit her. Gogo had figured it out a lot faster than she had. Of course! The phone. Fournier controlled Tadashi's every move with his phone. It had to be linked to that - it had to be! Once they had the phone, they could stop him.
'Mind control!' She gasped quietly.
Fred nodded eagerly 'I was right!' He mouthed back gleefully.
Rena rolled her eyes and turned back to Tadashi. Mind control. He was an empty husk; forced to do whatever Jason Fournier wanted him to do. He was still in there. He had to be. If anyone could get him to wake up, she could.
But before that, she needed to get the gun away from him.
'What have you done to Tadashi?' Hiro yelled, his voice trembling.
'It's mind control.' Rena replied, 'he does it using that little phone in his pocket.'
Fournier laughed, 'so you finally figured it out! Well done. Really, I am impressed.'
'Mind control?!' Hiro spluttered, then a realisation dawned on him. 'OH! The electromagnetic waves! The radio frequency radiation!' He turned to Baymax, 'that's what is interrupting your scanner!'
'Yes, yes, very nice.' Jason drawled, 'you finally figured it out! Took you long enough. I thought you guys were meant to be extremely close? At least, that's what the useless boy told me.' He jerked a thumb behind his back towards Caine, 'either he was lying or you're just extremely slow.'
Rena winced. 'Alright, we get it. You're very clever.' She replied sarcastically.
'Thank you! Oh and please, whenever any of you want to try and save yourselves, please feel free to do so. I'll have a lot of fun quashing you.'
Rena gritted her teeth, resisting the urge to scream a string of insults at him. There was one thing she needed to focus on - the gun.
She had one idea. An idea she hated. But, all the same, one idea was better than no ideas.
Her eyes moved to Tadashi's prosthetic. Her hands were free. He was immobilised by the mind control, he would be unable to stop her. If she could just take it off...
Her hand moved rapidly. She knew exactly how to take the prosthetic off, she could do it with her eyes closed. She felt sick using it against him, but knew it was the best shot she had at saving her own ass. Within seconds, it was detached. She held it in one hand and threw it as hard as she could. It landed on the other side of the room, striking one of the guards on the head and knocking him out cold, much to the delight of her friends.
Tadashi swayed and came crashing down onto the floor next to her. The gun slipped out of his hands and landed on the floor next to her. Like lightning, she seized it and launched it towards her friends, praying that nothing bad would happen. Fortunately, Wasabi had awoken properly and, being the only one untied, he reached up and caught the gun, whooping in victory.
Fournier cackled with glee. 'Oh, nice work! Using his fake leg against him... Truly evil, I must admit...' He took the phone out again and Rena knew she had seconds as he began tapping on the screen.
'Tadashi!' She exclaimed, seizing his wrist. She brought his chin up with one finger and looked directly into his hazel eyes. 'Fight it, okay? You can. I know you're still in there. Whatever he's about to do, you're stronger than that. FIGHT IT!' She gasped desperately.
'That's nice.' Jason said sarcastically. Again, he gave that same, long whistle.
Tadashi wrenched his hand out of her grip and pushed her to the floor. Rena struggled against him, but her ribs and arm put her at a significant disadvantage. She was lying face up on the floor, her uninjured arm was pinned to her side and her other lay next to her, useless. Tadashi's face was inches from her own, an uncharacteristically evil glint in his eye. Slowly, he raised both of his hands to her neck and began to squeeze.
Somehow, Fournier had done it. He had come up with something worse than Tadashi shooting her in the head - Tadashi killing her with his own hands.
'NO!' Hiro screamed, running across the room towards his sister, 'NO!' He grabbed onto Tadashi's arm and tried to pull him away, but it was no use. Rena gasped for breath, using the last of her strength to try and push him away.
Wasabi and Baymax were swift after him, but they were stopped by Jason firing a round of bullets into the air. 'If anyone else takes another step I will kill you all!'
Baymax continued to move but was stopped by the screaming from Gogo and Honey Lemon. 'But I am a healthcare companion! I must give assistance!'
'Baymax! If you move all of us WILL be killed!' Wasabi hissed, 'stop!'
'STOP IT!' Hiro screamed, his face red, 'I'll do whatever you want! Anything! Just... Stop him killing her!'
Jason laughed, 'no. I don't think I will.'
Rena's face was slowly turning blue as the life was squeezed out of her. Tears were running down her face as she desperately gasped for air, 'Tadashi!' She wheezed.
Hiro was pushing Tadashi, but his older brother would not budge. 'Rena! I'm so sorry. I'm sorry.' He cried, desperately trying to get Tadashi off her.
'Snap... Him... Out... Of...' Rena wheezed, struggling to pull her arms free.
Hiro changed tactics, instantly understanding what she meant. He grabbed Tadashi's face and pressed his forehead against his. 'Stop it. Tadashi, I know you're in there. Rena knows you're in there. Just... Stop.' He whispered between sobs, 'please. You'll kill her! Tadashi!' It was no use, his brother seemed unable to hear him. He was unreachable.
Tadashi's eyes softened. His grip loosened for a second. That was all Rena needed. She pulled her arm out from his grip and pushed him aside, crawling away from him and desperately gulping in air.
'NO!' Fournier shrieked, clearly not expecting this outcome at all.
Unfortunately for Rena, this change of heart didn't last for long. Tadashi pushed Hiro off him and went straight for her, manoeuvring across the floor as best as he could without his prosthetic. Rena rolled out of the way and was on her feet, running as quickly as she could towards Gogo, Honey Lemon and Fred, leaving Tadashi behind.
'OI!' Fournier shrieked, 'stop it! Stop it or everyone dies!'
'Be quiet, old man!' Wasabi cried, activating his blades and charging after him. Quickly, they were engaged in a fight. Wasabi kicked the gun out of his hands were it went flying across the floor, landing at Baymax's feet. The robot picked it up and squashed it between his fingers, throwing the tiny box of metal onto the floor.
'GUARDS!' Fournier cried. That was all they needed. Instantly, the seven men left dived into the middle of the floor. Baymax was taking four at once. The other three were helping Jason with his fight against Wasabi.
Hiro scrambled to his feet and followed his sister, diving onto the ground next to her. Rena was still gasping for breath, her shaking fingers trying to untie the knot that bounded Gogo's wrists together. 'Are you okay?' He asked, quickly untying Honey Lemon as he did so.
'Fine.' Rena replied, 'but we need a plan.'
'Get the phone.' Gogo said, 'I mean, we've done something very similar beforehand. How hard can it be?'
'Rena and Fred need Baymax.' Honey Lemon said, 'we need a distraction.'
'I think Baymax is a little preoccupied!' Rena gasped.
'He won't take long!' Fred protested, eyes firmly locked on the battle, 'look at him go!'
Hiro finished with Honey Lemon and took over from Rena and her one working hand, swiftly untying the knot in seconds. 'Honey Lemon, get your chem purse. Then you can help Wasabi.'
'On it.'
'Thanks, Hiro.' Gogo replied, shrugging the ropes off and rubbing her red wrists, 'what will the rest of us do?'
'Gogo, you can help Baymax. The two of you should have those guys down in no time.'
She nodded, sliding her visor down over her face, 'okay.' She sped off, aiming straight for the man nearest to her. Isnantly, she started to run around in rapid circles around him.
Rena glanced over at Tadashi as Hiro started to untie Fred's hands, 'what are we gonna do about him?' The boy in question had propped himself up against the wall, and was limping over to them with a look of vengeance on his face.
Hiro grimaced, 'I have no fucking clue.'
The rope bounding Fred came loose in Hiro's hands and Fred whimpered as he moved his arm back to its normal position, 'man, this hurts.'
Rena wrapped his other arm around her shoulders and hoisted him up as she had before, 'Hiro, whatever we're doing, Fred needs Baymax.'
'So do you!'
'Yeah, yeah. My main focus is staying away from him.' She replied, jerking her head towards Tadashi, still dragging himself towards them.
'That's a good idea,' Fred said warily, 'he looks pretty terrifying right now.'
Hiro looked at Baymax and Gogo. They were down to their last guard, but the others on the floor were stirring. Wasabi and Honey Lemon were fighting a guard and Fournier, who was surprisingly good at fighting. Caine was still crouching in the shadows, as though desperate not to be seen. 'We can pull Baymax away now, I think. Then he can bandage up Fred and do a proper scan of the both of you.'
'When are you-'
'NOW!' He yelled before running across the hall as fast as he could.
Rena watched as he dodged one of the guards and narrowly avoided being punched by another, 'he'd better watch out.'
'Rena, I think we've got bigger problems.' Fred said nervously.
She turned to see Tadashi just feet away from them. With a shriek, she pulled them both backwards just as he lunged for her. He fell onto the floor in a heap.
'Sorry Fred.' She said, trying to pull him away from Tadashi.
'It's not me he wants!' Fred replied, 'you can leave me here and run for it!'
'I'm not doing that!'
Tadashi pulled himself up and grabbed her leg, fingernails digging in hard.
'Rena! He doesn't care about me!' Fred exclaimed.
Rena ignored him, gripping her friend as she tried to run backwards away from her brother. It was proving to be a difficult task. 'Get off!' She shouted, attempting to kick him away.
Fred sighed and pulled her arm off him. He slid down the wall and sat with his injured ankle in front of him. Tadashi staggered right past him, as though he wasn't there. 'See!' He yelled to her, 'just run!'
Reluctantly, Rena turned on her heel and tore away from Fred and Tadashi. He was right, Tadashi only seemed interested in pursuing her. Instead of heading towards the fight, she veered to the side and made a beeline for Baymax.
'Baymax!' She screeched, dodging one of Honey Lemon's chem balls.
'Sorry Rena!' She shouted back to her.
'Rena!' Hiro yelled. He had managed to clamber up onto Baymax's back despite the fight, and was now reaching a hand out towards her. 'Come on!'
She seized his hand and pulled herself up onto the robot's back. 'Hey Baymax.' She said, patting the robot's arm affectionately, 'it's good to see you.'
'Why did you leave Fred?'
'Because Tadashi's not interested in Fred, he seems to only be interested in killing me.'
'Because Fournier told him to be. Makes sense.' Hiro replied, 'Baymax, let's go grab Fred!'
Baymax activated his rockets and headed straight for Fred, only just skimming the top of Fournier's head. He swooped down and plucked the boy from the floor, placing him onto his back beside Rena.
'Thanks Baymax!' Fred exclaimed in relief.
'It was no problem. Hiro, where would you like me to go now?'
'That corner over there will do, buddy.' Hiro replied.
The fight was pretty much over. Despite being outnumbered, the gang cleared the floor pretty fast. Two men were lying spread eagled across the floor, out cold. The rest were trapped in pink shells, courtesy of Honey Lemon. Fournier seemed to be the only one that had escaped capture. Instead, he was standing in the middle of the room with a look of murder on his face.
'Give up, Jason. It's over.' Hiro shouted as Baymax landed. He hopped off the robot's back, landing cleanly on his feet and strolling casually towards the man. 'You really thought you could beat us?'
'Oh, I believe I still can.'
'Oh yeah? How do you plan on doing that?'
'Easy.'
He clicked his fingers and another man appeared. He looked similar to Jason. They had the same nose, the same arched eyebrows and hair colour. The only difference was, instead of being tall and thin, this man was fat and a quite a bit shorter than Jason. He was also holding a gun. 'Allow me to introduce you to my brother, Matthew.'
Hiro tensed. 'I know who he is.'
'Wait, that's the guy who robbed the cafe!' Wasabi exclaimed.
'Indeed.' Jason replied smoothly, 'now, here's what is going to happen. You're all going to, first of all, take a deep breath and just calm down a little. Then, we're going to do things my way.'
'What do you mean, your way?' Hiro said, raising an eyebrow.
'I mean, I'm going to kill you all.'
